Sunday, May 9, 2010

The rising star out of Maracaibo, Venezuela was on his game once again. He was staked to a 6-0 lead right off the bat, but didn't relax or get lazy. He attacked and lived in the strike zone from pitch 1 though pitch 117.

He kept the Dodgers off balance all night long by mixing his baseball, changeup and slider -- all three were very effective for him. This led to seven strikeouts and a scattering of six very soft basehits over 7 1/3 scoreless innings.

Seriously... the Dodgers hit nothing hard at all. And half of their hits came from the red hot Andre Ehtier. Two of those beat the silly overshift Jim Tracy likes to employ. Chacin was just flat on it.

The scary/enjoyable thing about this performance is knowing he can actually improve. Confidence or poise don't look like issues, but he can defintely become more efficient with his pitches. He can get quicker outs and maybe even get himself into the 8th and 9th inning. For now, though, we'll just take and enjoy this roll he's currently on. It's quite a story.Supporting Players

Ian Stewart

The swing is looking good. The opposite field HR in San Diego was a great sign. The HR bomb to straight away center tonight was a terrific sign. He came up later and drove a ball to the opposite field gap. He's using the whole field, which means he's locked in and ready for a tear.

Troy Tulowitzki

Doesn't it almost seem like he's not doing anything? That's far from the truth. He reached base four times tonight -- two hits, two walks. He's hitting a cool .308. And you know the HRs are going to come eventually. When they do... look out.

Carlos Gonzalez

He only had one hit in five plate appearances. It was the biggest hit of the game.

Charlie Haeger had walked the bases loaded in the first. It was a situation the Rockies have had a few times before this season, and a situation it seems like they either waste or scratch out the bare minimum of runs.

CarGo guaranteed that wouldn't happen. He cleared the bases with a triple to the RF corner, busting the inning wide open, and knocking Haeger from the game after only five batters.

It's the type of hit the Rockies need more of going forward. The knockout punch. Doesn't matter what inning it comes, it just needs to happen more.

Overall

Tonight is exactly what the Rockies needed on every front. All phases of the game were clicking. Let's keep that going for Ubaldo tomorrow and take a good feeling back to Colorado with the Phillies coming to town.